Entries in Steny Hoyer
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U.S. House of Representatives(WASHINGTON) -- Rep. Steny Hoyer, the No. 2-ranked Democrat in the House of Representatives, placed his party’s odds at re-taking control of the lower chamber at dead-even Tuesday, offering a more bullish forecast than Speaker John Boehner’s prediction that there is a one-in-three shot the GOP will lose control of the House.

“There’s a higher chance than 1 in 3,” Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters at his pen and pad briefing at the Capitol Tuesday afternoon. “At best from [Boehner’s] perspective, I think it’s 50/50.”

Hoyer, the Democratic Whip, admitted that recent polling is “pretty volatile” and the results depend largely on how pollsters phrase questions. Still, he predicted that President Obama’s personal favorability ratings would benefit his party’s prospects for a majority this fall and added that “Democrats have pretty consistently run ahead of the Republicans over the last 12 months on generic ballots.”

Hoyer also said Democrats are targeting 78 congressional districts that were either won by Obama in 2008 or both Sen. John Kerry in 2004 and Obama in 2008, where he said Democrats are running “excellent candidates.”

Democrats need a net gain of 25 seats to overcome the House Republican majority.

“We have a very significant number of challengers who have outraised the Republican incumbents,” Hoyer said, adding that the House Democratic campaign arm has also outraised its GOP counterpart. “We’re going to pick up a lot of seats and I think we’ll take back the majority.”

ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- Despite calls from top military commanders, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, for a more gradual drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., says House Democrats want to see “significant, substantial drawdown” in the region.

Speaking on ABC’s Top Line webcast, Hoyer said that his caucus wants "to see the drawdowns begin this summer to be more significant than the numbers that were being talked about." While Hoyer is known as one of the more moderate members of the Democratic caucus, he joined 177 of his Democratic colleagues and 26 Republicans in supporting an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would have required a speedier withdrawal from the country. The amendment was defeated by a narrow 215-204 vote.

More Hoyer: "I think Democrats want to see and what I think the American people want to see is a shift from the U.S. playing the dominating role in Afghanistan to a significant and early transfer of responsibility to the Afghan people and certainly I think the end of the year, a significant, substantial drawdown would accommodate that objective."

On the domestic front, Hoyer said he’s “optimistic” that a deal can be reached with Republicans on legislation that would raise the debt ceiling. But, Hoyer said, “if there’s going to be an acceptable deal,” it needs to deal with “significant reductions in spending” as well as “revenues” (otherwise known as taxes).

“The Republicans have said they don't want to look at revenues,” said Hoyer, “but I think that ultimately if there's going to be an acceptable deal that will be part of it.”

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Although the government’s monthly jobs report beat economists’ expectations by adding 244,000 jobs last month, the unemployment rate actually increased from 8.8 percent to 9.0 percent -- a mixed result cheered and jeered Friday by top Congressional leadership.

Speaker of the House John Boehner noted that while “any improvement is welcome news, job growth in America is still nowhere close to what it should be.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also highlighted the positive data, and called for investments in the future to create jobs, noting “we must do more.”

“This is the time to invest in our future and America's middle class to bring down unemployment and spur our economic growth,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor also said the “announcement is good news,” while noting that it should serve as proof the government must not raise taxes.

“House Republicans are squarely focused on making Washington a partner to job creators rather than a barrier by pursuing pro-growth measures such as comprehensive reform of our tax code, reducing trade barriers, and increasing domestic energy production,” Cantor, R-Va., said. “We are taking every step possible to foster economic growth and get people back to work – and that starts by creating an environment where businesses will start hiring and America can continue to innovate, compete and lead.”

Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and House Democrats this week unveiled their Make it in America agenda, a series of bills they believe will help boost jobs in American manufacturing. Hoyer, D-Maryland, said the report was “encouraging news for our economy,” but added that “the fact remains that millions are still out of work, at a time when high gas prices are putting a strain on every American family.”

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters Tuesday that the House of Representatives will take up a free-standing bill to repeal "don’t ask, don’t tell "as introduced by Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Democrat from Pennsylvania who lost his bid for reelection in November.

Senate Democrats fell three votes short when they tried to insert a repeal of the policy in a larger defense policy bill earlier in December. It is not clear if a free-standing repeal can get the three extra votes Senators would need.

Following a review by the Department of Defense which found that the risk “to overall military effectiveness is low,” and that the widespread attitude by respondents to the survey said serving with openly gay service members “will not have a negative impact on their ability to conduct their military mission,” Murphy said that the “time to repeal 'don’t ask, don’t tell' has come.”

Photo Courtesy - ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made it clear Friday night that she prefers Majority Leader Steny Hoyer continue as her No. 2 in the House Democratic leadership in the next session of Congress by endorsing Majority Whip James Clyburn for the No. 3 position -- not the No. 2 slot that Clyburn is currently seeking -- House Minority Whip.

If Pelosi gets her wish, it would maintain the current structure of the top Democratic leadership in the House -- Pelosi (Minority Leader), Hoyer (Minority Whip), and Clyburn (Democratic Caucus chair). But with Democrats losing a leadership position as they move into the minority in the 112th session of Congress, it's a game of musical chairs that will inevitably leave one leading House Democrat without a seat at the leadership table.

House Democrats will caucus Wednesday morning to elect their leadership for the 112th session of Congress.

Photo Courtesy - ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- In a Dear Colleague letter, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer received support on Tuesday from seven key committee chairmen in his bid for Minority whip in the next Congress.

In the letter, Hoyer is described as a “tested leader” and one of the House Democratic Caucus’s “most effective messengers, with the ability to challenge Republicans on the floor, build support for our party’s middle-class policies across America, and fight back against the special-interest money.”

“Americans sent us a strong message about their dissatisfaction with the pace of our economic recovery, and we must show them that we hear them loud and clear. We can begin to do so by choosing a strong leadership team committed to aggressively defining our opponents, defending the middle class, and winning back the House majority. That’s why we’re writing to encourage you to support Majority Leader Steny Hoyer for the role of Democratic Whip,” the letter states.

Photo Courtesy - Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., officially announced Mondayevening that he is running for minority whip in the Democratic leadership elections next week, creating an uncomfortable showdown between the House’s second-and third-ranking Democratic leaders for the party’s second-ranking post in the minority for the next session of Congress.

“Over the past several days, I have talked to most of my Democratic colleagues in the House. I have received support from across the breadth of our Caucus to remain in the second-ranking position of our Democratic leadership team. In order to defend and build on our Democratic accomplishments, unify our Caucus, and immediately begin the hard work of winning back the majority, I will be running for Democratic Whip,” Hoyer announced Monday evening.

Hoyer, the second-ranking leader in the Democratic majority, is running against the current third-ranking House Democrat, Majority Whip James Clyburn, D- S.C.

As a result of losing the House majority in the congressional midterm elections last week, Democrats also lost a leadership position. Conventional wisdom among Democratic aides suggested that in the minority each Democrat would simply slide down one slot below their current posts. However, after Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed last Friday that she is running for House minority leader, Clyburn surprised some in the Democratic caucus by quickly announcing that he was running for minority whip – a move that would essentially jump Hoyer in the House Democratic leadership ranks.

Hoyer and Clyburn each worked throughout the weekend to drum up support for the post, while it is believed that the Speaker is quietly working behind the scenes to broker a deal to keep both members in the leadership. An aide from the Speaker’s office told ABC News that Speaker Pelosi is unlikely to formally endorse either member because "she's focused on her race" for minority leader.

While announcing he would run for minority whip Monday evening, Hoyer ticked off a number of issues he believes Democrats should focus on while they are in the minority next Congress.

“Together, Democrats must work to create jobs and rebuild American manufacturing, preserve our fiscal future, and hold Republicans accountable for any policies that favor the special interests over middle-class Americans,” Hoyer said in a statement Monday evening. “As Democratic Whip, I will work with and listen to all of our Caucus’s Members in our shared effort to achieve those goals.”

House Democrats will most likely hold their leadership elections next Wednesday, Nov. 17, during new member orientation week and as lawmakers return to Washington to begin a lame-duck session of Congress.

Photo Courtesy - Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images(Washington) -- It’s war between Democratic congressional leaders Steny Hoyer of Maryland and James Clyburn of South Carolina, who spent the weekend trying to shore up support to become the next House Minority Whip. Both sides have been working the phones, getting commitments of support from members.

With more endorsements in the bag, Hoyer appears to be winning the fight. Clyburn acknowledged as much in a television interview Monday morning. “I probably am the underdog in this race,” Clyburn said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “I've been here 18 years. Steny's been here 30 years. He has his friends. I have mine.” On Sunday afternoon, Team Hoyer released a letter of support signed by 30 House Democrats, including Representatives Linda Sanchez of California, Jim Moran of Virginia, Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania, John Dingell of Michigan, Jerrold Nadler of New York and others.

Despite all of the posturing, Clyburn predicted that the two senior Democrats would still be “friends” once the leadership fracas is over.

The dust, meantime, has yet to settle over Nancy Pelosi’s announcement she wants to remain the top Democrat in the House, seeking the minority leader’s post after the California Congresswoman’s term as House Speaker effectually ended in last Tuesday’s election losses, which the president referred to as a “shellacking.”